


Post S6 Voltron Prompts

by National_Nobody



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Eventual Smut, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, M/M, Multi, Pre S7, Road Trips, Slash, Team Bonding, eventual OT3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-15 22:16:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15422778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/National_Nobody/pseuds/National_Nobody
Summary: The Paladins of Voltron are finally heading back to Earth, and you know what that means. SPACE ROAD TRIP!Prompts may include: Space Mall Round 3, Keith joining in on Monsters and Mana, truth or dare, and Pidge getting Space Wolf to fetch.Essentially, feelings are had, shenanigans ensue, and Shiro may or may not have purple hair.Rating varies by chapter (labeled in chapter title). Mostly Gen with a smattering of T and M. Written before all the San Diego Comic Con bombs were dropped, so unfortunately there's no Adam or any reference to/inclusion of s7e1 spoilers (except for what little I was able to glean about Romelle's personality). That will have to wait for another time!Edit: Formerly titled "Post Season 6 Voltron Drabbles" (changed it because lets be real, none of these are actually short enough to be considered drabbles. I get too carried away).





	1. Reorientation (G)

**Author's Note:**

> Season 6 wrecked me, so here is how I cope before s7 kills me even more. A huge thank you to my magical editors potooyoutoo and CasualThursday who have gracefully allowed me to drag them into Voltron hell with me.

The first thing Shiro heard was a small hiss. The slide of glass.

The air on his face wasn’t cold per say, but different enough to notice a change. It smelled filtered, like the AC units on a plane, but the low hum around him was purring recognizably. 

Shiro’s eyes fluttered open.

“He’s awake,” said a woman standing above him. She was Galra, but seemed...familiar somehow. Something about the armor, maybe. One of the Blades?

He took the hand she offered, feeling a little dizzy as he sat up.

“Easy now,” she said kindly, steadying him. He fixed his gaze on her, brows furrowing. Those eyes. The way her mouth turned. Call him crazy but...her features, they were like a carbon copy of _Keith’s_. 

Shiro blinked, memories coming back to him out of the fog as he finally started to become more alert.

“Krolia?” Shiro croaked. 

“You remember,” she said, mildly surprised. “I suppose that’s a good sign.”

“Shiro?”

Shiro’s head snapped toward the voice, chest swelling in relief at the familiar tone.

“Keith,” he sighed. “It’s really you.”

“Yeah, buddy. I’m here,” Keith said tenderly, sounding equally relieved. “You alright?”

“Yeah. I’m okay,” Shiro said, clearing his throat, murmuring thanks as Krolia passed him a water pouch.

“Just hang tight, okay?” Keith said. “We should be landing for a break in just a couple vargas.”

“I think I’ve already been on a break long enough,” Shiro grunted, scooting to the edge of the healing pod.

He pushed himself up onto wobbly legs, steadying himself on Krolia’s arm as he took a couple of tentative steps toward Keith’s chair. The world swayed slightly, and he took a breath, adjusting to the solid pull on gravity on his legs. A sensation he’d nearly forgotten.

As he reached Keith, Krolia let him go. He leaned his hip heavily against the side of the chair, anchoring himself as he reached down to squeeze Keith’s shoulder. Keith looked up, smiling warmly. Shiro returned it, then glanced up to the wide expanse of space just beyond the glass.

Finally, it was a view he was able to see again with his _own_ eyes.  
  


 

“Shiro! Shiro, watch this!” Pidge called, waving some sort of pipe in the air, Keith’s space wolf wagging its tail in anticipation at her feet. 

They’d all been dying to stretch their legs by the time they’d reached this tiny planet. It had been slightly nerve wracking at first, navigating down from the Black Lion as Shiro adjusted to only having one arm to rely on while still a little off balance on his feet. As usual, however, his team was there in seconds, surrounding him on all sides with big smiles and steadying hands as he found a nice flat rock to sit on and watch them all. 

“I’m telling you, Pidge, she won’t go for it,” Keith said. “I tried to teach her for two years, and—”

“Go get it, girl!” Pidge shouted, tossing the pipe as hard as she could.

Keith’s mouth dropped open as the wolf immediately disappeared in a pop of light, reappearing a moment later on Pidge’s chest, pipe clutched in her mouth as Pidge toppled to the ground, laughing.

“Good girl,” Pidge crooned, rubbing the wolf’s head. Shiro laughed at the look of utter betrayal on Keith’s face.

“ _How_?” Keith spluttered, arms spread wide in disbelief.

Pidge smirked, adjusting her glasses as she got up off the ground. “You just weren’t giving her the right motivation. There’s a little food goo inside here,” she explained, scratching the wolf behind the ears as the wolf lapped at the edge of the pipe.

“Or maybe she just likes Pidge better,” Lance piped up from a little ways away, mouth partially full from his own packet of food goo.

Keith scowled, grabbing the pipe from Pidge and tossing it right at Lance’s stomach. Lance yelped as the wolf teleported after it, knocking him to the ground and obscuring him from view under blue fur. Keith smirked, satisfied.

Shiro shook his head, smiling as he watched Pidge run over to try to wrestle the wolf off of a squashed-looking Lance.

“So, how’re you feeling?” Keith asked, sitting close beside him. 

“Strange,” Shiro admitted. “Finally having a body again...it’ll take some getting used to.” He smiled. “But I’m more than ready to get back on my feet. Literally.”

Keith smiled back. “I’m sure you’ll be back on top of your game in no time,” he said. “Just like riding a hoverbike, right?” 

“Yeah,” Shiro chuckled, thinking of the bright red bike Keith had so obsessively maintained seemingly a lifetime ago. “Something like that.” Concern leaked back into Keith’s face as he looked more seriously at him. 

“Shiro, how much do you actually remember about...well, all of this?” Keith asked gently. “So much happened after you first disappeared, and plenty of it was out of eye and earshot of the Black Lion.”

“Some things are still a little jumbled,” Shiro said, “but when Allura was able to transfer my life essence into this body, it felt like…like the world had come back into sharp focus again for the first time in a long time. I think that feeling was my memories combining with the clone’s,” he paused, searching for the words. “It makes sense, I guess. This clone thought with all his heart that he was the real me and he _was_ in a lot of ways. Merging together was basically just getting right back to being myself. Just...minus the evil mind control,” he said, a little more bitterly than he meant to. 

“You know none of us blame you—him—for any of that, right?” Keith asked genuinely. 

“I know,” Shiro said. “It was Haggar’s doing. All the same, I wish you hadn’t had to see such a twisted version of me.” He placed his hand back on Keith’s shoulder, squeezing lightly. “For what it’s worth...what you said on the platform?” Keith tensed, pink tinting his cheeks as his eyes darted away. “I love you too, Keith. I hope you know that,” he said sincerely. “I’d be dead ten times over if it weren’t for you, and I’ll never be able to tell you how grateful I am to have you always watching my back.” 

Keith glanced back at him, gaze soft and a little surprised. He smiled, small and relieved. “It’s like I told you,” Keith said. “I’ll always keep saving you, as many times as it takes.”

“Well, for my part, I’ll try to start making that less often,” Shiro smiled, wrapping his arm more firmly around Keith’s shoulders to pull him in for a hug. Keith relaxed, tucking an arm around Shiro’s back.

“I’ll hold you to that, Takashi,” Keith said quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shiro's back, baby! Also, the plan is to finish all of these drabbles before S7 drops. I'll do my best to stick to that!


	2. Let's see how far we've come (G)

“Dude, seriously,” Hunk groaned, a little winded as he got back on his feet. “You’re the speedy one. I’m the tank. Why are we trying to fix what isn’t broken?”

Keith chuckled, readying his stance. “You’re speedy when you want to be, Hunk. Now come on, let’s run it again.”

Shiro leaned against the Black Lion’s paw with Lance, sharing a water pouch as they watched Keith and Hunk drill. He was already feeling much stronger than he had a week ago, though definitely not enough to join in on the workouts yet whenever they pit stopped on a new planet.

“Come on, Hunk, I’ve seen you dodge better than that, kick his butt!” Lance called, tossing his arms up in encouragement.

“Careful, you’re up next,” Shiro smiled, nudging him.

“Puh-lease,” Lance scoffed. “Just because Keith came back all ‘new and improved’ after the whole space whale adventure with his mom, doesn’t mean that I can’t still take him. I’ve got _plenty_ of cards up my sleeve,” Lance smirked, crossing his arms confidently.

Shiro chuckled. “I’m sure you do, Lance.”

Their heads turned as Keith and Hunk both grunted, falling to the ground in a pile of limbs. Hunk stared down, dazed, somehow having managed to pin Keith in place. Keith huffed, taking advantage of Hunk’s surprise to shove him off balance, turning the tables until Hunk was back at his mercy, his knife at Hunk’s throat.

Keith smiled, turning the blade around and poking Hunk lightly with the hilt.

“Aw man,” Hunk whined. Keith got to his feet, offering Hunk a hand. Hunk took it, rubbing his side where he’d initially hit the ground, hard.

“See? Told you, you could do it,” Keith said, crossing his arms.

“Thanks, but I mean, you still won,” Hunk said.

“First time you’ve ever pinned me though,” Keith pointed out. “If you hadn’t surprised yourself so much, you would’ve had me.”

Hunk cracked his neck, shaking out his aching arms. “Well great, can’t wait to have the Galra _almost_ quaking in their boots next time I’m stuck doing hand-to-hand combat with them,” he huffed.

Keith shrugged. “You know it’s different when it’s the real thing. When the chips are down, you’ve always pulled through for us. With how much better you’ve gotten already, can’t see why this would be an exception.”

“Aww,” Hunk cooed, slinging an arm around Keith’s neck. “You know, I think I’m starting to like Older Mellowed Out Keith even more than Galra Keith. Except...” his smile dropped, looking panicked, “Wait, you didn’t get replaced with a clone while you were gone, too, did you? ‘Cause seriously, man, I’ve definitely hit my emotional quota with that. I don’t think I could handle it if we have to go find real Keith’s consciousness and transfer it into your space wolf or something.”

“Hilarious,” Keith rolled his eyes, giving Hunk a playful shove.

“What?” Hunk protested. “Weirder things have happened to us!”

Lance sighed. “I wish I could disagree with you there, buddy.”

“Hey, Hunk, Lance, can you guys help me with something?” Pidge called from her lion.

Keith gave Hunk one last pat on the back as Hunk and Lance walked away, tiny smile still playing across his lips. Shiro kept his eyes trained on him as Keith sidled up next to him, pride filling his chest.

Keith raised an eyebrow as he caught Shiro looking.

“What?” Keith asked curiously. Shiro shook his head, smiling to himself, then looked back to Keith again.

“Just thinking that Lance and Hunk are right. You really did come home to us a new man,” Shiro said fondly. “Ever since you set foot out of that Altean pod, it’s been clear how much more confident you are. In yourself, in your techniques, in the way you lead.” Shiro shrugged. “Throughout that whole battle with my clone, when he was saying all those awful lies to you? The old you would have struggled with that. Maybe even lost his temper. And yet none of what he said fazed you for a minute. You never lost sight of the truth, or how determined you were to save me,” Shiro smiled softly. “You’ve come into your own, and I guess...I was just thinking how happy it makes me to know that you finally see yourself the way I’ve always seen you.”

Keith smiled, looking more than a little embarrassed. “Thanks, Shiro,” he said warmly. “Getting to spend all that time with Krolia...it was a really healing experience for me, you know?” He looked contemplatively at the Marmoran knife in his hand.

“For most of my life, I felt like there was this huge void inside me. Like my mom leaving and my dad’s death left this inescapable hole at my feet that I always felt in danger of tumbling into. It was like there was nothing you, or our friends, or anyone could do to pull me away from it,” Keith said, running his thumb over the Blades symbol on the knife hilt. “But, when I found out who Krolia was to me, and had the opportunity to really understand for the first time why things happened the way that they did…” Keith swallowed. “It was like that hole finally had a chance to close. Not only did I find out that my mom never truly abandoned me, but I got to train with her. Learn from her. _Live_ with her, for two years, while we traveled toward our mission.”

He looked gently at Shiro. “After my dad died, you were the only person that ever made me feel like I knew who I was, and that I could do something important. The mission I had with her was just the final thing I needed to help me cement that belief in myself, I think.” He sheathed the knife, leaning back and shifting more comfortably, close to Shiro. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, I finally don’t feel so angry and scared all the time anymore, and without all that noise in my head...I can really focus now, just like you taught me to.”

Shiro shifted his weight, taking in the warmth of him by his side. “Well I’m glad to say I told you so,” he said, nudging him lightly with his hip. Keith smiled, tilting his head to rest against Shiro’s and nudging him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hunk is a good fighter, change my mind. As always, thank you potooyoutoo and CasualThursday for being the best!


	3. Guilt trip (G)

“Tri-noctal wrench,” Hunk called, sticking his hand out from behind the contraption he was working on.

“Got it,” Lance said, digging around in Hunk’s tool box and pulling out a scuffed up, weird-looking thing that looked vaguely wrench-ish. “Uh, I think.”

Hunk sighed, taking it from him. “Man, my stuff needs some serious TLC. Figures, I think I still had, like, a whole kit of polish and maintenance stuff stowed away in our room at the Garrison that my mom got me after I was assigned to be an engineer, but obviously I didn’t think to have it on me when we ran away with Keith and Shiro. It’s probably sitting in the dump by now, or all used up by some other kid that ended up in our room after us.”

“I still can’t believe we’re finally going back there,” Lance said in awe. “It almost feels too good to be true.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty surreal,” Hunk agreed. “Every time I think about it, I keep wondering how different it’s going to be when we get there. Or if it’ll seem like nothing changed at all.”

“I just can’t wait to see the look on Iverson’s face when we show up with Voltron,” Lance said gleefully. “I _so_ want to rub his stupid nose in it, you know? _Us_ , the kids he counted out from the start, paladins of the most powerful spaceship in the _universe_. Man, it’s going to feel good. Bet it’s going to feel pretty good to tell Iverson that you were right about your dad and brother too, huh, Pidge?”

“Hm?” Pidge looked up, distracted. “Oh. Yeah, definitely,” she said offhandedly, going right back to typing away on her laptop.

Lance’s smile slid away.

Hunk paused in his tinkering, wiping his sleeve across his forehead. “Gah, stupid thing. I’m sorry Pidge,” he said, stepping away from the machine and wiping his hands. “I may need to approach this a little differently. I’m going to run back to Yellow for a second and see what other tools and supplies I still have on there.”

“It’s okay, Hunk,” she said. “Ping me on our comms if you need any help.”

“Will do,” Hunk said, patting her head as he left.

Lance frowned, glancing back at Pidge’s hunched shoulders in concern.

He’d watched her and Hunk at work a million times at this point. Not that he usually contributed anything beyond complaining of boredom, but still. He was well acquainted with what both of them looked like when they were ‘in the zone,’ and this? This wasn’t it.

“You okay, Pidge?” he asked tentatively.

“Yes,” Pidge said, frowning in confusion but still looking resolutely at her screen. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know,” Lance shrugged. “You just don’t seem all that excited about going back to Earth. Aren’t you psyched to see your dad again?”

“Of course I am,” she snapped. “I miss Dad and Matt every day, _obviously_ I can’t wait to see him. Why would you even need to ask that?”

Lance held his hands up conciliatorily. “Okay, sorry. Just asking.”

Pidge sighed, fingers stilling on her keyboard.

“I’m sorry,” she said, hanging her head a little. “I didn’t mean to bite your head off.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lance said gently. Pidge placed her laptop on the floor, lightly hugging her knees.

“I guess I’m just a little nervous to see my mom again,” Pidge admitted. “When we first heard the news about Kerberos, Matt and my dad became all that I could think about. I was so focused for so long on trying to find them, that I didn’t stop to think about how my actions would affect her, too.” Pidge curled in on herself. “She lost her husband and her oldest child all at once, and then when she needed me most, I ran away to sneak into the Garrison, got swept up in Voltron, and left her all alone.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Lance said joining her on the floor. “Me and my family are tight too, so us leaving so suddenly like we did? I feel guilty about it all the time,” Lance looked pensively into the middle distance. “I’m sure they’ve missed us a lot. But, sometimes you have to make sacrifices so that they can end up happier in the end. If we didn’t leave, the entire planet would have been in peril. Zarkon wasn’t going to stop until he got his hands on the Blue Lion.”

“I know,” Pidge said quietly. “And I tried to explain that on the message I left with Dad, but I still feel bad for not at least telling her what I was doing before I left.”

“She’s your _mom_ , Pidge,” Lance said, swinging an arm around her shoulders and squeezing. “She’ll forgive you. Besides, you _did_ find Matt and your dad. What greater gift could you have given her than that? I mean sure, Matt’s still out fighting with the rebels and you won’t be able to stay home for long, but your dad is back with her now, right? She’s not alone anymore, and I’m sure after everything your dad told her she’s probably proud as heck of you.”

“Yeah...I hope so,” Pidge said with a small smile. “Thanks, Lance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just feel really bad for Pidge's mom. Thank you, thank you potooyoutoo and Casual Thursday for angst-ing with me about this.


	4. Pit Stop (G)

Hunk hummed to himself, tapping a finger against his controls as they flew in formation. There was nothing but monotonous, unchanging space in front of them for miles.

He sighed, feeling fidgety. They’d been going like this for _hours_ already. It hardly felt like they’d made any headway, even though according to their maps, they were already nearing the halfway point to their next destination. He really wished he and Pidge had found a way to get them some music to play for the road. This was so _boring_.

Not that he didn’t like boring, of course! Boring was _definitely_ preferable to what they were usually doing, which was fighting for their lives, but still.

“ _So_ ,” Hunk said over the coms. “Anybody have any good stories? Dramatic retellings? Catchy tunes? You know, like, _anything_ to break up all the nothingness going on here?”

“Oh! I’ve got one,” Coran piped up. “Have I ever told you about the fishing trip where King Alfor and I wrangled my very first porogonian watersnoot?”

“Uh, that’s great and all, Coran, but how about the story of why the heck my lion is lagging behind all of a sudden,” Lance said urgently.

“Whoa, hey! Fun stories only, Lance, not scary ones,” Hunk said. “We’re in the middle of empty space, that’s scary enough as it is.”

“No, I’m serious!” Lance said, the Red Lion beginning to drift out of Hunk’s sight behind the rest of the group. “Something’s wrong. I think my lion is running out of juice.”

“Wait, that can happen?” Romelle asked, sounding panicked. “I thought Voltron was an all-powerful robot! If we run out of power here we’ll be floating endlessly in empty space!”

“Right?” Hunk blanched. “That’s exactly what I was going to say!”

“Actually, my lion isn’t looking great either,” Pidge said. “Allura, do you know the best way to recharge the Lions without the castle?”

“If we had somewhere to land, the Lions could recharge over time on their own,” Allura said tentatively. “However, there’s no telling just how long it would take. It may be too great a risk.”

“Nuh uh, no way,” Hunk said. “I am not going to be a sitting duck on some random asteroid.”

“Seconded,” Lance agreed. “Coran, can’t you point us to some magical gas station or something?”

“Well, I don’t know about gas or juice,” Coran said, “but we aren’t too far from the Fahrcornain belt, which—at least back in the day—was home to a number of small refueling stations for all sorts of interplanetary ships. No idea if it’s still standing, but that may be our best bet.”

“Let’s check it out then,” Keith said. “Hunk, circle up behind Lance and see if you can tow Red by attaching your Lions with our spare cables."

“On it,” Hunk said, directing Yellow over to where Lance was struggling to get Red moving.

“‘Break up all this nothingness’ he says,” Lance sighed. “You just _had_ to go and jinx it, didn’t you Hunk?”

“Sorry,” Hunk said sheepishly.

 

 

“Now keep in mind,” Coran said just as they were about to crest over the outer asteroids of the Fahrconian belt, “It’s been 10,000 years since I’ve last been by this way. It was a fairly remote little hub back then, so there’s a chance there’s nothing left but a ghost to—”

“ _Whoa_ ,” the whole group interrupted in awed astonishment.

A string of vibrant lights stretched out in front of them, glittering invitingly from the windows of an enormous complex of long, squat buildings. Large floating signs glowed with brightly colored lettering, flashing across the screens in one language after another, big arrows pointing down to their various establishments.

For all intents and purposes, they seemed to have stumbled upon one, giant, intergalactic rest stop.

“...Or, not.” Coran amended.

“I don’t suppose you guys recognize any of these languages, do you?” Lance asked.

“I’m on it,” Pidge said. “One of these writing systems seems to be a riff off of the standard Galra script. I’ll see if I can find anything that matches up somewhere in the Galra databases I’ve hacked into in the past.”

“Once we do translate, then what?” Keith asked. “We still don’t know what kind of fuel we’re looking for.”

“I may have a few ideas,” Allura said. “Regardless of what we find though, it will have to be a temporary solution.”

“Yes,” Coran said sadly. “Unfortunately there is no true substitute for the Altean energy that powered the castle. We’ll just have to make do and hope we can store enough extra fuel to last us until the Castle of Lions is rebuilt.”

“There has to be at least three dozen different options here, if not more.” Shiro said reassuringly. “I’m sure we’ll find something that will be sufficient for the time being.”

“What I’m more worried about is _who_ we’re going to find here,” Pidge said. “There’s no way a refueling area this big doesn’t have some sort of Galra presence. In fact, I’m kind of surprised we haven’t set off any alarms already.”

“Pidge is right, we should be careful,” Keith agreed. “Maybe find somewhere to park the Lions out of sight, and then commandeer some smaller ships to get the fuel we need back and forth without attracting too much attention.”

“Right, because the Lions are so easy to hide,” Lance said sarcastically.

“You have a better idea?” Keith asked bluntly.

“Hello? Cloaking,” Lance said. “We’ll just use the Green Lion to get all our stuff.”

“Uh, that still requires us to hide the rest of the Lions, Lance,” Hunk pointed out.

“...Touché,” Lance said, crossing his arms.

“It’s still a good idea, Lance,” Shiro said. “The Green Lion may save us a few trips, considering how much more room we’ll be able to utilize.”

“I can stand guard by the other four Lions while you’re gone,” Krolia offered.

“Alright, it’s settled then,” Hunk said eagerly. “Party on Pidge’s ship!”

 

 

With their cloaking tech activated to hide them from view, they landed quietly behind the tallest building they could find. Which...wasn’t saying much.

Most of the complex was taken up by blindingly bright, one-story high convenience stores. The spaces in front of, between, and sometimes on _top_ of them was filled with bizarre looking pumps, insertion machines, and other fuel loading equipment that Hunk had never seen before. It was overwhelming, his brain whirring with curiosity as his gaze swept over the hundreds of different spacecrafts parked in nearly every available spot. Man, if only he had time to inspect some of the weirder ones up close…

“Come on, Hunk,” Pidge said, tossing him a cloak. “Everyone else already has their disguises on.”

Hunk held it up in front of him, tilting his head. “Isn’t this your brother’s?” he asked.

“Yeah, he left it behind with us after he switched back to his rebel armor,” Pidge said, pulling a different hooded cloak over her own head.

“I got this disguise a while back while I was looking for him,” she shrugged in answer to his confused gaze. “We don’t want anyone to recognize our paladin armor while we’re here.”

“Alright,” Hunk said skeptically, draping the cloak over his head. To his surprise, it covered him just fine.

They grouped up behind a pile of crates.

“Alright, gang,” Coran said, peering around the corner, “looks like we’re good to go.”

“Are we all clear on the plan?” Allura asked.

Hunk nodded. “Yeah, easy. Team Altea is on fuel-grabbing duty for the Lions, while Team Voltron is on fuel-grabbing duty for the people,” Hunk said, ticking each point off on his fingers.

“And, if there’s trouble, we yell really loud and run back to the Green Lion,” Lance added.

“More or less,” Coran shrugged, smoothing his mustache. “We’ll want to meet back here in no more than one and a half vargas. No need to overstay our welcome, after all.”

“Sounds good,” Shiro said, glancing at the Princess. “Be safe, okay?”

“Same to all of you,” Allura nodded, putting her hood up, “and good luck.”

As Coran, Romelle, and the Princess scurried off, Hunk filed in behind Lance to follow the rest of the paladins who were heading in the opposite direction.

Lance stopped short the moment they slipped through the nearest sliding doors, Hunk nearly running smack into his back. Hunk’s mouth was half-way open to reprimand him when his jaw dropped entirely.

“ _Wow_ ,” they all whispered in unison.

The aisles stretched on endlessly, the shelves filled with every kind of bright and wacky packaging imaginable, advertising untold goodies from across the galaxy. Hunk would have loved to see _fresh_ ingredients, but it didn’t seem to be a full grocery store, so much as just a giant snack mart. Either way, Hunk’s mouth was watering at the sight of it all. They hadn’t had a chance to actually _choose_ food for themselves in ages.

“Guys,” Lance said, “I think we’ve hit the motherload.”

“Where do we even start?” Pidge asked.

“I guess, head to the middle then fan out?” Keith shrugged.

They started walking, peering at the displays as they passed. Some looked normal enough, like the table stacked high with blue and purple boxes of cereal that featured a grinning cartoon Galra soldier giving a thumbs up on the front.

Others though…

“Is that supposed to be a...fruit?” Pidge asked, pointing to some round, jet black things covered in thick rubbery spikes and piled at the bottom of a crate.

“I don’t know,” Lance said, poking one carefully.

A pair of long oval eyes opened, staring at him with horizontal pupils, followed by a bunch of smaller eyes on the tips of each spike. A slash serving as its mouth opened wide to reveal two rows of pointed teeth, and Lance yelped, pulling his hand back.

A reedy bipedal alien with translucent turquoise skin and tentacles framing its mouth like a beard let out a gurgling chuckle, adjusting their employee uniform.

“We’re running a special on those today, only twenty GAC a podling!”

“Uh, we’re fine, thanks,” Lance smiled awkwardly, keeping his hands up protectively in front of him.

“Are you sure?” the employee asked. “These are fresh in from Nunuak. I hear that, in about four out of seven cases, the poison sac is great for the digestive systems of most species in the universe.”

“What about in the other three cases?” Hunk asked.

The employee shrugged, “I wouldn’t worry. You can always just regrow your limbs, right?”

Hunk exchanged a horrified look with Lance.

“Maybe we’ll come back for one on our way out,” Shiro said, nudging the group to start backing away. “Thanks for your help, though!”

They scooted away quickly, taking refuge by the travel-sized toiletries.

“Okay, note to self,” Keith said. “Just stick to stuff that looks like trail mix or something.”

Pidge gasped as she tugged on Hunk’s cloak, pointing to an aisle on his left. Hunk’s eyes went wide.

“Hold that thought, Keith,” Hunk said, wandering to stand directly in middle of the aisle.

This stuff couldn’t be _exactly_ the same as what they were used to on Earth, but by the looks of it—

“Dude,” Lance said with an emotional sniff, clutching Hunk’s arm. “Do my eyes deceive me? Is this, _real junk food?”_

Hunk sniffed back, lip wobbling. “It’s...so beautiful,” he choked, kneeling in front of some cheese doodle looking things and holding a bag aloft.

“Ohmygosh!” Pidge exclaimed, hugging a giant package of rainbow-colored gummy worm equivalents to her chest a little ways down the same aisle. “It’s been so long. I want twenty.”

They dashed up and down the aisle in delight, trying to decipher all of the text on the multicolored packaging and guessing what the closest Earth snack equivalent was.

“Don’t go too crazy, guys,” Shiro warned. “We only have so much mon—“ he stopped short as Keith gasped at the sight of something on the wall just beyond the end of the aisle, eyes shining in awe. Hunk turned to look as well.

It was none other than a giant, glorious, four flavored slushy machine.

“Oh _hell_ yes!” Hunk fist pumped. “This is so happening.”

“I’m getting blue!” Pidge called, running toward it, the others following behind her.

She, Hunk, Lance, and Keith each grabbed a cup in the largest size available and filled them to the brim, grinning ear to ear.

Shiro sighed, bringing his hand to his forehead. “Alright, everyone gets _one_ goodie and one slushy,” he allowed. “But we have to save the rest of our GAC for food and supplies that will actually sustain us meal-wise for a few weeks.”

“Look, that stuff might sustain our bodies, Shiro, but _this_ ,” Lance said, holding the slushy cup to his cheek and stroking it lovingly, “this will sustain our souls.”

“Yeah, what Lance said. Also this counts as one,” Hunk said, running back to grab a container the size of his head filled with orange puffs and hugging it protectively to his chest.

Shiro smiled, shaking his head in surrender. “Whatever you want, big guy.”

“Which size do you want, Shiro?” Keith asked, holding up two different slushy cups.

“Oh, I'm all set,” Shiro said. "Thanks though, Keith."

“You sure? We could split mine if you want,” Lance offered.

“That's alright, Lance,” Shiro said kindly. “You enjoy as much of yours as you want.”

“You don't even want a sip? Seriously?” Keith asked, tilting his straw toward Shiro. "Who are you and what have you done with the guy who used to sneak extra large slushies into the dining hall for us both after Garrison exams?" he demanded. Shiro relented.

“Guess we should get a basket for all this stuff, too, huh?” Keith added.

Shiro nodded, still slurping. Keith smirked.

“Right. You sure you don’t want your own?” he asked.

Shiro shook his head, stealing the cup out of Keith’s hand altogether and starting to walk away.

“Hey!” Keith chuckled, going after him. Shiro smirked, trying to keep the cup out of range as Keith reached both arms around him to get it back.

Hunk’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as he watched the two of them walk away. “Hey, is it just me, or has something been going on between Shiro and Keith lately? Like, more than usual?” he asked Pidge out of the corner of his mouth, pointing with his straw. Pidge turned to look toward them as well, watching as Keith gently hip checked Shiro, finally having snatched his slushy back. Shiro was still smiling as he bumped him back, the backs of their hands brushing with every step as they walked close together.

“Huh,” she smirked, tucking a finger behind her ear and wiggling her glasses. “Guess you weren’t the only person who picked up on Keith’s new and improved buffness, Lance.”

Lance sputtered, choking a little on his drink. “Come on, it was just an observation!” he shouted defensively. Pidge snickered.

“Poor Lance, first he’s third-wheeled by the Princess and Lotor, and now by Ghost Shiro and Older Keith,” Hunk shook his head. Lance windmilled, chucking a bag of chips at Hunk’s head.

“What?! Nononono, nuh uh, no gracias! I don’t care _how_ ripped his abs have gotten, I am definitely, _definitely_ not into mullet-brain that way,” Lance said, blushing furiously.

“I mean, I was talking about your giant man-crush on Shiro, but sure, feel whatever you feel Loverboy Lance,” Hunk laughed. Lance groaned, yanking his hood over his face.

 

 

“We made good time,” Pidge said, dumping their bags of purchases next to her chair inside the Green Lion. “I can’t wait to have Coran, Allura and Romelle try some of this stuff with us, they’re going to _freak_.”

“I guess it isn’t surprising we beat them back here,” Shiro said, brow furrowed slightly. “All the same, maybe I should go out and look for them.”

“Pidge and I can go,” Hunk said. “Allura said they were looking for phosphobor, triklite, or acevorium, so we can use Pidge’s translations to track those down and find them that way.”

“If Pidge goes with you, we won’t have the Green Lion as backup,” Keith said.

“Maybe not, but we shouldn’t use the Green Lion anyway,” Pidge said. “The last thing we need is for whatever is left of the Galra Empire to find out where we are and follow us back to Earth.”

“Actually, I hate to say it, Pidge, but I think Keith is right,” Lance said, folding his arms. “Even if we don’t use your Lion as a weapon, if anything were to happen to you, we’d be stranded without anyone able to fly Green Lion out of here.”

“I guess you’re right,” Pidge said, adjusting her glasses. “Here Hunk, I’ll just send you the translation of those three words specifically so you can match them to the signs.”

“That works. You coming then, Lance?” Hunk asked.

“You got it, buddy,” Lance grinned.

“They should be back here in a little over half a varga,” Shiro said, “so if you don’t find them by then, circle back to us to see if you crossed paths. After that, if they’re late, we’ll all split up to look for them.”

“Got it,” Hunk saluted, turning on his heel to head down the ramp and pulling up the file Pidge sent.

“So which one should we start with?” Lance asked, peering over Hunk’s shoulder at the key words.

“Well, considering triklite tends to be sold in bars that are only about as big as a king-size kitkat, trying to get enough of it to power even one ship that’s as large as our Lions could be difficult,” Hunk mused. “And even though acevorium would be easier to get in large quantities since it’s usually kept as a liquid, wheeling a bunch of heavy tanks back to the Green Lion would be pretty conspicuous.”

“So, you think the phosofuel, or whatever you called it, makes the most sense?” Lance asked.

“The phosphobor, yeah,” Hunk answered, scanning the signs above them. “Coran said it was rare and expensive, but it would still be the most ideal. Not only is it super versatile, a.k.a. the one most likely to work with the Lions in the first place, but one small canister per Lion could potentially last us six months, give or take.”

“Right, of course, because heaven forbid we ever need something that _isn’t_ super rare,” Lance said sarcastically, scanning the dozens of faces around them. “Let’s just hope this doesn’t turn into a needle in a haystack situation.”

“Hey, you three! Stop!” someone yelled up ahead of them.

Hunk and Lance exchanged a look, then took off at a jog to go see what the commotion was.

The sea of people was parting hurriedly as three figures beelined it to one of the many rows of spacecrafts, ducking and leaping around the vehicles as two official-looking Galra chased after them. Their faces weren’t immediately recognizable, but then Hunk’s eyebrows shot up as he noticed a very signature mustache on one of the stranger’s faces.

“Dude,” he poked Lance’s arm. “Alteans can kind of shape-shift right?”

“Yeah, remember that one time Allura Galra-fied herself?” Lance asked. His eyes widened as he put two and two together, glancing from Hunk back to the fleeing figures. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Hunk said, shoving Lance in the back to get him on the move again as he tried to keep Coran in their sight. This was not good.

“Excuse us, excuse us, coming through,” Lance shouted, clutching Hunk’s hand tightly as he fought to keep them together while they weaved through the various groups of onlookers.

For a moment, Hunk was afraid he and Lance had lost them. Then, he was more afraid as he caught sight of Coran pinned to the ground by one of the security guards. He and Lance walked faster.

The Galra must have sprayed them with something. Romelle and Allura were coughing horribly, falling to their knees. The second security guard yanked their wrists behind their backs, quickly slapping handcuffs on both of them while the first security guard did the same to Coran.

“I’ve got this,” Lance whispered quickly, dropping Hunk’s hand. “Just follow my lead.”

Lance cleared his throat loudly. “Alright people, move along, nothing to see here,” he ordered, gesturing to all the curious aliens to back away. “This is official business only, stay out of the way. We have the situation handled.”

“You heard the man, move along,” Hunk joined in, corralling people away until the onlookers finally dissipated.

“Who the heck are you two?” the security guard who had cuffed Coran asked sternly, still gripping his wrists tightly with one hand.

Like most Galra, she towered over Hunk and Lance’s heads intimidatingly, a suspicious look plastered on her face. Unlike the typical armor Hunk was used to seeing, however, this woman was sporting a simple dark jacket with two insignias on it; one that Hunk recognized as the symbol of the Galra Empire, and one he’d never seen before.

“A couple of guys who were _trying_ to enjoy the sorry excuse of a lunch break that we get around here,” Lance huffed. “What’d these guys do, steal something?”

“Not just any something,” the other security guard growled, holding up a box containing five sealed canisters in one hand, his other gripping the other two captives. “Fuel from Dozab’s place. The rare stuff! The freaking nerve of people these days, thinking they can cheat the boss like that.”

“If anyone is a cheat, it’s this filthy excuse of an establishment,” Allura spat. “We paid the shopkeep in full and then he refused to give us our wares!”

“Well whose fault is that?” the security man taunted. “Anyone with half a brain around here knows what they say about Dozab’s shop.”

“Ha, wow, what newbies, am I right?” Hunk asked, elbowing Lance.

“See? This guys gets it. Everybody knows Dozab works right under the boss. And tell me, does the boss like to keep the rare things rare, fella?”

“Yeah, obviously,” Hunk said exaggeratedly.

“Shut it, doofus,” the female Galra hissed. “Do you know if these freakshows are legit? No, no you do _not_ , I says. Where do you two work?” she demanded.

“Pfft,” Lance laughed loudly, wiping a fake tear from his eye. “Oh, man, did you hear that, dude? Good one, guys, seriously.”

The male Galra’s eyes narrowed. “Something funny, freakshow?” he asked.

“Wait, you’re not kidding? Guys, come on, we work together. You know,” Lance glanced from side to side, leaning in to whisper conspiratorially, “for the boss.”

The security woman frowned. “You think we’re idiots, guy?” she asked dangerously. “The two of us work right in the inner circle, you get me? We know _everybody_. So if we don’t know you, you don’t work with us.”

Hunk shook his head with an exasperated sigh.

“No kidding, we know everyone too. You seriously don’t recognize us?” Hunk asked, affronted. “This is Ruso, and I’m,” his eyes cast around, glancing down at the sleeve of his cloak. “...Matt. You know, from accounting?”

Hunk held his breath as the guard paused, unsure of herself, and then glanced at her buddy, who was scratching his chin.

“Weird. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever met the guys in accounting in person,” he said. The woman’s entire demeanor changed. She crossed her free arm over her chest in a clear sulk.

“Unbelievable. Did I say it, or did I say it? The boss still doesn’t trust us with everything! All this blabber on and on about ‘loyalty’ and ‘total transparency,’ and yet did we ever met Matt or Ruso here in all this time? No. It’s a disgrace,” she spat.

“Yeah, you said it,” the security man agreed firmly, shaking his head.

“Hey, look, don’t beat yourselves up over it.” Lance said, slinging an arm around the male Galra’s shoulder and poking his chest. “You guys? You are _top notch_ security. Seriously, you have saved us _so_ much of a headache by catching these jerks. The boss would’ve had our heads for something like this.”

“For sure,” Hunk agreed. “I mean, do you know how much this stuff is worth? More than Ruso and me combined, let me tell you.”

“Look, how about this. While you guys deal with these nasty thieves,” Lance suggested, gesturing to the three Alteans, “Matt and I can take the phosphobor back to its rightful place. Then, when we report what happened, we’ll personally make sure the boss knows it was you two who saved the day.”

“You guys would do that for us?” the female Galra asked, seeming touched.

“Absolutely,” Hunk nodded solemnly.

The male Galra sniffed, handing the container of cannisters to Lance and then moving his arms in the Galra salute. “Wow, you’re a real pal, Ruso. And you, too, Matt. Vrepit sa.”

“Vrepit sa,” Hunk and Lance saluted together.

As the two security guards strong-armed the Alteans away, Hunk side-eyed Allura. She nodded almost imperceptibly.

“We will _not_ give up that easily,” Allura yelled dramatically.

She slammed her head backward into the male Galra’s with a crack. His grip on her faltered as he grunted in pain, and it was enough for her and Romelle to break free. Without hesitation, Allura ducked into a crouch, sweeping her leg out as she turned on her heel to knock him off his feet. He landed square on his back, the wind knocked out of him.

The security woman lunged, grabbing for Romelle’s arm, but Coran shoved her off balance, the both of them tumbling to the ground. For a second, the two of them struggled. Coran was in too awkward of a position to get the upper hand.

“Coran!” Allura warned, dashing over to them and aiming a kick for the security woman’s head. Coran just barely ducked his head out of the way, Allura’s kick colliding hard with the Galra’s temple.

The security woman crumpled with a hiss of pain and Coran rolled away until he was flat on his back. He tucked his knees up as he rocked backwards, using the momentum to leap back up onto his feet.

“Now give us those cannisters, you fiends!” Romelle called out, running toward Hunk and Lance.

Hunk and Lance ran away screaming, all three manacled Alteans hot on their trail as they booked it back toward the Green Lion.

Hunk didn’t dare look back to see if the security guards had recovered enough to follow them, his cloak fluttering out behind him as he sprinted as fast as he could. His lungs were on fire, but Lance was slipping seamlessly through the crowd like a stream of rushing water and Hunk was determined not to lose sight of him. He trusted that the others were doing the same.

In their haste, he and Lance nearly ran into the Green Lion’s cloaked leg, forgetting the exact spot Pidge had landed it.

“Pidge, we’re out of here! Now!” Lance yelled, waving an arm frantically above his head.

The Green Lion’s mouth opened immediately in front of them.

“Go, quick,” Hunk panted, gesturing to the Alteans as Romelle, Coran, and then Allura ran around the side of the pile of crates.

The second Allura passed by him, Hunk followed, stumbling tiredly up the ramp right behind her and collapsing the second they made it inside.

“What the hell’s going on?” Keith asked.

“Forget it, just, _go_ ,” Lance managed, breathlessly.

“Going,” Pidge said, the Lion purring to life and taking off with a leap.

The five of them took a minute to catch their breath, Keith quickly getting to work picking the three sets of handcuffs. The Alteans all nodded gratefully to him, rubbing their wrists as the cuffs slid off. Hunk clutched at a serious stitch in his side. Man, he hated running.

“Please tell me we at least got the fuel,” Pidge said, glancing over her shoulder.

Lance held up the container of cannisters, handing it off to Shiro.

“Perfect, thank you Lance,” Shiro said. His gaze swept over the group of them. “Well, clearly getting these didn’t go as smoothly as our snack run, but you’re all back in one piece and you brought what we came for, so, good work, team.”

“Let’s just get the phosphobor hooked up to all five Lions ASAP so we can get out of here,” Hunk said tiredly. “I’m ready to get back to the boring endlessness of space.”

“Yes, what he said,” Romelle agreed, slumping against the wall.

Lance chuckled, clutching his stomach. “Oh my god. ‘You fiends?’ Really, Romelle?”

“Oh, shut it. It was the best I could come up with on the spot,” she said defensively.

Allura laughed. “Well at least you two were convincing,” she said. “That was some truly quick thinking. Thank goodness those guards didn’t pose much of a challenge.”

Lance beamed.

Keith sighed loudly in annoyance. “Again. What. Happened.”

“Oh, right. Sorry, Keith, it’s just one of those things you know?” Lance shrugged. “Had to be there.”

Hunk laughed as Lance took a squishy hit from Keith chucking a bag of marshmallows right at his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, some good freaking food. Haha hope you enjoyed! Thanks to my editors as always, you two are champs!
> 
> Writing things in order is not my forte, so my apologies. Most of the later scenes in this fic are finished, so once the next two chapters are done, the rest will be posted in short order. I'm still hoping to have the majority, if not everything posted by 8/9! We'll see if I can bust it out!
> 
> Space Mall Round 3 is next, and Monsters and Mana with Keith & Romelle is right after that, so look forward to those very soon!


	5. Space Mall Round 3 (G)

“Paladins, team, I have good news and bad news,” Coran announced over the comms from inside the Red Lion.

After the minor fiasco in the Faharconian belt, the group had managed to get the Lions a safe distance away to where Coran and Hunk could begin hooking up the new backup fuel they’d acquired. After only a few short hours of work and a couple of false starts, nearly all five Lions were ready to go, or so they thought.

“What’s the bad news?” Keith asked.

“The bad news is that even though the phosphobor fuel canisters are, thankfully, working in sync with the Lions, it looks like they’re in danger of overheating over time and could potentially explode on us if we’re not careful,” Coran said.

“...And the good news?” Allura asked.

“The good news is that I know exactly where we can buy different containers for the canisters to sit in that should keep them cool,” Coran answered.

“Ooh! Please say where I think you’re going to say!” Hunk said excitedly.

“Space mall, space mall, space mall!” Pidge chanted.

“That’s right,” Coran said. “It’s not too far out of the way yet, so it looks like we’ll need to head back there one last time before we go full speed ahead to Earth.”

“ _Yes!_ ” Hunk and Pidge celebrated.

 

 

“Alright everyone, this time I know exactly where to look, so no need to split up and search,” Coran said confidently as strode into the mall’s main entrance. “We’re going straight to the unalu shop over that way.” He pointed, marching off in the right direction.

“Ah, Coran,” Allura said, stopping him by putting a hand on his shoulder. “Please don’t take it personally, but, perhaps someone _else_ should do the bargaining at the unalu shop this time.” She smiled apologetically.

“Also, do we really _all_ have to go?” Pidge piped up.

“Yeah, can some of us go grab lunch first?” Hunk asked.

“Well, I suppose that’s fine,” Coran acquiesced, tugging on his mustache. “Who _is_ going to buy the cooling containers then?”

Krolia stepped forward. “I’ll do it, I’ve dealt with the unalu before.” She turned toward the group. “Shiro, how about you come with me.”

Shiro blinked in surprise. “Oh. Uh, sure, I’d be happy to,” he said, exchanging a quick glance with Keith.

“Excellent, let’s be off then,” Coran said, starting to march away again. Shiro glanced at Allura who was making an urgent slashing motion across her neck.

“That’s alright, Coran,” Shiro said. “Krolia and I can handle it just fine on our own.”

“Oh,” Coran said, seeming slightly put out. “Then, what am I going to do?”

“Coran, come _on_ ,” Lance said, slinging an arm around his neck. “We’re in a giant floating mall in space. Loosen up, do a little normal shopping with us!”

“ _After_ we eat, though, right?” Hunk said again.

“I’ll go with you to the food court, Hunk,” Keith said placatingly. Hunk grinned gratefully, giving a thumbs up.

“How about we all simply agree to meet back here in about two vargas?” Allura suggested. “I’ve come up with a list of things I think we may need for the journey ahead.” She grinned. “Plus, it has been over 10,000 years since I last had a chance to do some proper shopping.”

“Yeah, let’s go!” Lance said, pumping his fist.

 

 

Shiro gazed around in wonderment as he and Krolia started walking, everything a little bigger, brighter and shinier than what was in his borrowed memories.

The others had all looked so excited, darting off to enjoy themselves. He wished he could get swept up too but… He felt fidgety in a skin-crawling kind of way as they passed the endless, pristine, shop windows.

Maybe it was the juxtaposition that was throwing Shiro off. Out in space, every moment held the potential to suddenly turn into the fight of their lives. Everything was rationed, space was limited, and the routine was set. Having fun just for the sake of it was difficult to do without feeling guilty that time or resources were being wasted, and if anything went wrong it felt even more impossible to justify.

Then they entered a place like this.

The mall was the pinnacle of superfluousness. A place where impulsiveness was encouraged and where there was a seemingly endless amount of anything you could want. _Not_ partaking in it was now a reason for guilt instead of the opposite, and that just felt so strange.

He felt like an idiot for feeling so weirded out over something so insignificant. It was just a _mall_. A familiar and fun way to kill some time. But he couldn’t help it. Something about all the excess made his insides twist uncomfortably. What used to be mundane now felt alien and wrong.

“If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you can say so,” Krolia said quietly, as though reading his mind. “Trust me, I get it.”

Shiro swallowed. “I...yeah. It’s just a lot,” he gestured generally to their surroundings. She nodded thoughtfully.

“When you’ve lived the kind of life we have, I find quote, unquote ‘normalcy’ can be the biggest culture shock of all,” she said. “That’s mostly why I volunteered the two of us to get the containers. I find that, at least for me, it helps to have a specific task or ‘mission’ to fulfill.”

“That...actually makes a lot of sense. Thank you, Krolia, I really appreciate it,” Shiro said, touched by the gesture.

She shrugged. “It’s the least I can do.”

 

 

“Augh, Allura, come on,” Lance whined. “If we’re going to go into clothing stores, can we at least choose ones that have stuff _besides_  dresses?”

“You don’t have to stay with us, Lance,” Allura reminded. “I already had everyone write down their measurements for me, I can buy your formal attire for you.”

“Hang on, are you putting _me_ in a dress?” Lance yelped.

“Ohh, yeah, didn’t we tell you?” Pidge smirked with a glint in her eye. “I was thinking we could get you one to match your Lion, right Romelle?”

“Oh yes, I remember. Which would you rather, Lance? Red or Blue?” Romelle teased.

“...Okay I really can’t tell if you’re serious,” Lance said. The girls all dissolved into laughter.

“Relax, dummy, we won’t make you wear a dress if you don’t want to,” Pidge grinned. “Allura does think we’ll need some formal attire for one or two of the planets we might stop at on our way home though, so I was going to help her find dress clothes for all of you guys that are more like what you’re used to on Earth.”

“Right, well, you guys have fun doing that,” Lance said. “Come on, Coran, let’s go explore some more.”

“Ah, alright,” Coran said as Lance started pulling him away. “Ooh, Princess, if you see a nice cape, I could really use a new one!” He called back over his shoulder.

“What happened to your old cape?” Lance asked as they continued along the row of stores.

Coran shrugged a little sadly. “I must’ve left it behind on the ship. I couldn’t find it anywhere when Allura and I were taking stock of the formal clothes we already had.”

“Oh. Sorry, man. That’s a bummer,” Lance patted his shoulder.

Lance took his time poking his head into stores as they went, mostly to see how many cool and bizarre things he could find. Neither he or Coran felt all that strongly about actually buying anything, however, until—

“Wait a minute, was that a game store?” Lance asked, backtracking a few steps.

It certainly seemed to be. Peering in, he could see an assortment of puzzles, board games, and, towards the back, an enormous sign on the wall that said ‘Monsters and Mana.’ Lance grinned, tugging on Coran’s sleeve.

“Nice, Coran, look! They’ve got stuff in there for that game you had us play!” he exclaimed. “Come on, maybe they’ve got a smaller, portable hologram table or something.”

“I mean, we don’t necessarily _need_ the holograms,” Coran said, following Lance into the store. “Back in my day, not all of my friends had a holotable, so we used physical figurines and set pieces instead.”

“Really?” Lance asked as they reached the back of the store. “What’d they look...like...” His eyes went wide, taking in the floor to ceiling wall filled with small character figurines, monsters, animals, environments, and just about every other type of thing he could think of. “Holy crow, nevermind. This is nuts, they have enough stuff in here for us to build practically anything!” Lance said.

Coran gasped, excitedly grabbing for one of the larger monsters. “They have a Quintagor! I’ve wanted one of these since I was a boy.”

“I have no idea what that is, but this one looks like a Minotaur. That’s so cool!” Lance said, holding up a different box.

“What’s a Minotaur?” Coran scratched his head.

“It’s a monster from a group of myths we have back on Earth,” Lance said. “There are tons of different myths from different parts of the planet, but Minotaurs come from these people called the ancient greeks. Basically, it’s part bull, part man, and the story goes that it lives in the center of a huge Labyrinth.”

“A Labyrinth, eh?” Coran said thoughtfully, stroking his mustache. “There’s an idea.”

He and Coran side-eyed each other conspiratorially.

“...How much money do we have again?” Lance asked.

 

 

Allura consulted her checklist, marking things off as they left their third store. She hummed thoughtfully as they reached a map of the mall, glancing over it to see where they needed to head next.

“Let’s see,” she said. “We’ve got the basics covered for regular clothing, our formalwear is all set, we found a cape for Coran…it seems as though all that’s left is to stock up on our medical supplies. We can’t rely on healing pods anymore, after all.”

“I thought I saw a drugstore a short ways back,” Romelle said, tracing over the map with her finger. “Ah! Right there.”

“Uh, guys?” Pidge said, struggling to fit all the bag handles onto her arms. “Can you take some of these back now?”

“Oops, sorry Pidge!” Romelle said, taking a few from her.

“It’s funny,” Pidge said as they made their way to the drugstore, “back home, I’d always kind of hated going shopping. My mom would drag me out to the mall to get new clothes for school or something, and all I could ever think about was how I could’ve be home studying, or playing video games with Matt instead. Right now, though? It just feels really nice to do something so normal.”

“That’s sweet that you and your mother were able to spend that time together,” Allura said, smiling. “My mother made most of my clothes growing up, rather than going out to buy them. We were...somewhat removed, I suppose, as royalty living in a castle.”

“Didn’t you ever leave?” Pidge asked.

“Yes, of course. Sometimes for little trips around the country, or to visit my father wherever he was traveling to. Much of that time was taken up with lessons or formal socializing, though. She _did_ try to make it fun, when she could, but more often than not that just got on my nerves since younger me was always so desperate to be taken seriously.” Allura smiled a bit sadly. “They are times I cherish thinking of now, though. Especially since, once I was older and the fighting began, I didn’t get to spend nearly as much time with her. I was usually by my father’s side instead, helping with the war effort.”

“It’s still so strange for me to imagine,” Romelle said. “You actually lived out the stories _my_ mother told me growing up. Of course, our stories about ancient Altea probably weren’t all that accurate, seeing as much of what we were taught had been filtered down through Lotor, and then generations of our people.”

A small tendril of anger flared through Allura’s chest at the sound of Lotor’s name, but she pushed the feeling down, smiling kindly at Romelle. “I suppose one day we’ll have to compare notes,” she said.

“There’s the store, I think,” Pidge said.

Allura grabbed a basket as she walked in, heading straight for the medicine and first aid. As they weaved through the aisles of varying hair products, however, she paused. One section of shelving was dedicated to hair dyes, the offerings spanning the whole spectrum of natural and unnatural colors, including a raven black similar to what Shiro’s hair used to look like.

A playful smile rose to her lips as she tapped her chin. She glanced over at Pidge, who was wearing a similarly mischievous expression.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Pidge?” Allura asked. Pidge grinned, grabbing three boxes of dye on the spot and throwing them into the basket.

“If what you’re thinking is that Shiro’s brand new white hair has presented us with a perfect opportunity, then yes. Yes I am,” Pidge answered.

 

 

Hunk’s eyes sparkled with happiness as the food court finally came into view.

“Aw man, I can’t wait to chow down on a delicious space burger. Or, actually, I wonder if Vrepit Sal’s is still here. If he is, I hope he remembers what I taught him.”

Keith huffed a laugh. "I forgot about that. Well if his stuff is half as good as yours, then sounds good to me. I don't know what any of these other restaurants even are."

As soon as they rounded the corner into the food court proper, weaving between busy tables filled with chatting shoppers, Hunk noticed a line so long they'd cordoned it off like an amusement park ride.

"No way," Hunk grinned. Sure enough, it led all the way to Vrepit Sal’s. He and Keith exchanged an impressed glance, walking up to the front to take a peek at the menu.

Keith nudged him with a smile, pointing to the wall behind the counter. There was a picture of Hunk pasted above the line of clipped up orders that looked to have been cut out of a Voltron On Ice poster.

Keith smiled. “I think it’s safe to say he remembers.”

“Aw,” Hunk smiled wide. “Guess I really did make an impression that day.”

“Well if this ain’t something. Am I seein’ who I think I’m seein’?” a voice addressed them from behind.

Hunk turned, suddenly finding himself face to face with Sal himself. He was holding a tray full of samples and grinning from ear to giant Galra ear.

“Sal,” Hunk grinned back, holding out his hand, “good to see you again.”

Sal took it, shaking his hand firmly. “I wondered if we’d ever see your mug around here again. I don’t suppose you’ve come lookin’ to work, have you?”

“Sorry, no, we just came here to eat,” Hunk said. “And this time, I actually have GAC, I promise.”

“Don’t talk crazy, it’s on the house,” Sal said, gesturing to someone behind the counter. “Thanks to you, kid, Vrepit Sal’s is on the map and better than it ever was. I ain’t ever gonna forget that.”

Sal went back behind the counter, tying on an apron. “Hey, Clyvak, we’re whippin’ up something special. We got a guest of honor over here,” he called out.

A few heads turned at the tables in front of the restaurant, some patrons whispering to each other in line and pointing in Hunk’s direction.

Hunk flushed, rubbing his neck sheepishly.

A young alien girl approached Hunk shyly. “Um, excuse me, but are you Hunk? As in THE Hunk, paladin of Voltron?”  
  
“Yeah, that’s me.” Hunk smiled, crouching down to her level. “What’s your name?”  
  
“Veema,” she grinned. “Yellow is my favorite lion. It’s big and strong, just like me!”  
  
“Yeah?” Hunk’s smile softened. “He’s my favorite too.”

“Oh my gosh, it _is_ you!” another, older, excited alien girl said, coming up to them. “I loved watching The Voltron Show on Ice! Is Keith here somewhere too?”

Hunk stood back up, a little flustered as he suddenly found himself surrounded by a small group of wide-eyed fans.

“Wow uh, hi, everybody. Yeah, Keith’s right here behind me,” Hunk answered, gesturing over his shoulder.

Keith, who had been watching amusedly from a few steps back, suddenly froze up, his face turning red. The alien who’d asked about him tilted her head in confusion.

“That not Keith, Keith’s a girl,” she said indignantly.

Hunk stared at her in confusion for a moment, then it hit him.

“Oh,” Hunk laughed. “Right, you mean Princess Allura who _played_ Keith. Sorry no, it’s just me and the actual Keith.”

The alien eyed Keith skeptically. “Is that so? If you’re the ‘real’ Keith, then I assume you know what Lion Keith pilots?”

Keith glanced at Hunk, looking a little lost. “Well, yeah, I fly the Black Lion,” Keith answered.

“Aha!” she exclaimed. “There, see? You can’t be the real thing. Everyone knows Shiro The Hero flies the Black lion. Keith pilots the _Blue_ Lion.”

Keith blinked, perplexed. “Shiro the what?”

“Oh, yeah I guess that is kinda confusing,” Hunk said. “Shiro used to fly the Black Lion, but Keith does now.”

“Yeah, and I’ve never flown Blue, that was Lance,” Keith said.

“But Loverboy Lance is the _Red_ Lion,” another fan in the considerably growing crowd piped up.

“Well, yeah, _now_ he—wait did you really just call him _loverboy_ Lance?” Keith asked amusedly.

“You know what? Nevermind,” Hunk said. “Point being, yes, I’m Hunk. And it’s very nice to meet you all, but uh, we were actually just about to get food and—”

“AH, LOOK EVERYBODY! HUNK FROM VOLTRON IS HERE!” someone from across the food court called out.

“Oh boy,” Keith murmured nervously, the crowd size suddenly doubling, then tripling, backing Keith and Hunk against the counter of Vrepit Sal’s as they all tried to get a touch or a word in.

“Uh, Keith?” Hunk gulped, fending them off. “What do we do?”

“What’s all the commotion over here?” a familiar voice grunted angrily, clearing a path. “Make way, people, let me through.”

Keith and Hunk froze, exchanging a wide-eyed look. Riding in on his scooter was the all too recognizable face of the Galra mall cop that had run them out of the mall the first time they’d come here.

“Hey, wait a second,” the mall cop said slowly, the same realization dawning on his face. “Varkon never forgets a face. I know you!”

“Oh no,” Hunk whimpered. “Hey, Sal,” he called out panickedly. “I think we’re going to need that lunch to go.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Varkon said, advancing on them.

“Hunk, up!” Keith ordered, climbing onto the counter and pulling Hunk up after him. The crowd surged in, ignoring the angry barking from the mall cop as they got in his way.

“Now what?” Hunk asked loudly.

“Three cheers for the Yellow Paladin,” Keith shouted to the onlookers, flipping Hunk around and then shoving him toward the crowd. Hunk windmilled, falling backwards. Waiting hands were there to catch him, lifting him up over their heads and carrying him away.

“Seriously Keith?!” Hunk yelped.

“Just go with it!” Keith yelled back, grabbing a paper bag from Sal’s waiting hand and falling backwards as well, crowd surfing away as the mall cop yelled something indistinguishable over the crowd’s roaring cheers.

 

 

Shiro decided that out of all the strange shops he and Krolia had walked by, their actual destination, the unalu shop, had to be the oddest of them all.

“This place looks like a junkyard had a baby with an antique store,” Shiro whispered to Krolia, looking around skeptically at the assorted items strewn about.

“That’s what makes it the perfect for finding rare, weird, and specific items,” Krolia said, sifting through one of the discount bins, searching for any sign of the canisters Coran said they would find there.

“Shouldn’t we just ask him for what we’re looking for?” Shiro suggested, glancing at the unalu standing behind the checkout counter. “It could take us ages to sort through all the stuff in here.”

Krolia shook her head. “You never want to let an unalu think you’re overly invested in an item they’re selling. It makes it much harder to haggle.”

“Alright,” Shiro said, peering around. “Guess I’ll start looking over—“ he paused, something in the discount bin catching his eye. He picked it up with a smile. “Huh. This is actually a pretty nice sketchbook.”

Krolia glanced at it, then at him. “You draw?” she asked.

“Me? No,” Shiro said. “Keith used to though. Back when I first met him.”

“Really?” Krolia smiled. “He never mentioned that. Is he any good?”

“ _Good_  might be a little bit of a stretch,” Shiro laughed lightly. “But he enjoyed practicing. Like anything else, if he picked up the habit again, it wouldn’t surprise me if he ended up being great eventually.”

He contemplated it for another second. “Would you mind holding onto it for me so I can have my hand free to look around?”

Krolia’s smile turned knowing, warming the back of Shiro’s neck.

“Sure,” she said, taking it from him. “Let me know if you find anything else.”

They sifted through seemingly every inch of the store, Shiro’s eyes starting to glaze over from the sheer number of things passing in front of them. Finally, after what felt like ages, Shiro heard Krolia make a triumphant sound.

“Found them,” Krolia murmured, as Shiro approached her, gathering up six thick containers from among a huge shelf of other similar bottles, cylinders, and the like. They felt cold to the touch the moment Krolia twisted the bottoms of them. “Good. They all seem to be in working order and we’ll have an extra.”

“Does it say how much they are anywhere?” Shiro asked.

“No,” Krolia said. “That’s where the haggling comes in.”

Krolia meandered to the counter, picking up and putting down other objects as she went. Shiro followed her lead, trying to seem as disinterested as possible.

“Ah, I see you’ve taken a liking to these disposable placemats and set of self-chilling cocktail glasses,” the shopkeep said, folding both pairs of his hands together.

Krolia shrugged, placing the items on the counter. “They won’t impress anyone at a party but I suppose they’ll serve their purpose. How much?”

“What are you offering?” the unalu asked connivingly.

“Well, I have some space wolf fur attached to my clothing,” Krolia said nonchalantly.

“I’ll accept your first born child,” the unalu countered. Shiro blanched.

“Mm, I suppose I could add in the packet of food goo in my bag that’s only half-empty,” Krolia countered again.

“How about your entire set of armor?”

“A three second sword lesson. Five seconds if you throw in the placemats for free.”

“Two lorsigan doubloons!”

“ _One_ galbifor ingot!”

“Sixteen tuflozle currency coins!”

“950 GAC. Final offer,” Krolia said, slamming the money on the counter.

“Deal,” the unalu said, scooping up the bills and putting their items in a bag.

Shiro stared at the two of them, not entirely sure what just happened. Krolia tilted her head in a gesture for him to follow her.

“Your first born child? Is this guy insane?” Shiro whispered furtively as they walked out.

Krolia rolled her eyes. “The unalu _always_ start there.”

She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, taken aback by something. Half a second later Shiro heard it, the sound of a crowd cheering loudly close by. He cast his gaze around, looking for the source.

Krolia sighed. “Speaking of my first born...” She pointed to the next level up from them.

Shiro looked where she’d directed, his eyes going wide. The crowd of people looked even larger than it sounded, as though the entire mall had stopped what they were doing in order to join in. As Krolia had noticed, there was no need to ask why. Being pushed along on _top_ of the crowd’s raised hands, were the clearly distinguishable figures of the entire rest of his team.

Shiro sighed. “Of course it is.”

He bounded up the nearest escalator, Krolia hot on his heels. The crowd had begun chanting ‘Voltron’ over and over, but thankfully no one had looked twice at Shiro yet. They caught up to the group just as they were reaching the end of the end of the mass of people, the participants helping to set everyone back onto their feet one by one.

“What—” Shiro began to ask indignantly.

“Sorry, Shiro, no time,” Keith interrupted, grabbing his hand and making a run for it, the rest of the team scrambling after them.

“Faster, he’s going to catch us!” Romelle yelled.

“ _Who_ is going to catch us?” Shiro called back frustratedly. “What did you guys do?”

“We don’t know, but Keith and Hunk started it,” Lance accused.

“We didn’t do anything!” Keith snapped back. “Varkon still thinks we’re space pirates.”

They ran pell mell down the hallway, bags swinging on their arms and chests heaving. Just as the exit finally came into sight however—

“Aha! Found you!” a voice called out.

A short Galra on a scooter, presumably this ‘Varkon,’ pulled out directly in front of them, blocking the path. They all came to a screeching halt, tripping over each other in their haste not to run into the vehicle.

“Aw, quiznak,” Hunk whimpered.

“I knew that shortcut I created would come in handy one day,” Varkon said triumphantly. “Finally, I have you all right where I want you.”

Keith tensed up beside him. Shiro squeezed his hand in reassurance before letting go, stepping forward.

“Please, sir,” Shiro started, holding his hand up, “whatever it is that my friends did wrong, I’m sure we can come to an understanding.”

Varkon’s face scrunched in confusion.

“Did wrong? What are you talking about out?” Varkon asked.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shiro saw Keith and Hunk exchange a perplexed glance, brows furrowed.

“I recognized you all walking around the mall just had to ask,” Varkon continued, whipping out a large, shiny paper from a storage compartment on the scooter with a large grin, “would you all sign my Voltron Show On Ice poster?”

The entire team stilled, dropping out of their defensive stances and blinking at each other in disbelief.

“Your...poster?” Pidge asked, stupified.

“Yeah,” Varkon said happily, “I loved all the Voltron Shows! The action, the drama! They were amazing! I even have a blue pen for you to use, Keith.” Varkon held it out eagerly for Allura. “You were my favorite paladin from day one.”

The others all muffled snorts of laughter into their hands as, for a split second, Allura and Keith’s longsuffering expressions perfectly mirrored one another.

“Ah, of course we’ll sign. Anything for a fan,” Allura recovered, smiling awkwardly.

One passed-around-poster later, they all waved to Varkon as he scootered away, happy as could be. As soon as he was out of sight, they all let out a breath.

“Okay, it’s official,” Hunk said. “We can’t ever come here without expecting something weird to happen.”

“That does seem to be the trend with you all,” Romelle said.

“Well, Krolia and I found what we came for,” Shiro said. “Is everyone else ready to leave?”

“Definitely.” The whole team chimed in tiredly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, finally finished this chapter! A little late, granted, but hope you enjoyed!
> 
> I've had to change my plans slightly, but since I'm posting chapters 5-6 at once, I'll just go over that in the end notes of chap 6. Hmm, I wonder which of those hair dyes Shiro will go for... ;)


	6. A good time to dye (G)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A while back I saw a few people posting fanart of Shiro with his hair dyed this color, and I just had to write it. So thanks, fanartists for the inspo!
> 
> For example:  
> https://pentapoda.tumblr.com/post/175209111173/so-i-realized-white-hair-is-easy-to-dye-and-shiro  
> http://spiftynifty.tumblr.com/post/174931818958/the-great-thing-about-earth-is-all-the-drugstores

“I don’t know about this, guys,” Shiro said, sitting on a stool in front of the bathroom sink in the little apartment they’d rented out for the night.

The place they'd found to stay and enjoy a little downtime after their shopping trip was a far cry from fancy, but it fit them all and had a small kitchen (much to Hunk’s excitement) so it sufficed. After all, they were mostly just lounging around. This would be their last free afternoon to relax, goof off, and get a solid night’s sleep somewhere outside their lions for who knew how long.

“Come on, Shiro, it’ll look awesome!” Pidge said, shoving on some gloves.

“But I thought you said you liked the white,” Shiro said, a little self-consciously.

“We do,” Allura reassured, tossing her hair up into a bun. “It’s quite angelic on you, truly. However,” an eager glint appeared in her smile as she also donned a pair of gloves, “with it so pale like this, we could easily get it to show off nearly any vibrant color imaginable!”

“Yeah, like this navy blue, or neon red, or bubblegum pink,” Pidge listed excitedly, tossing each of the boxes out of the bag and onto the counter. “Or, my personal favorite, galaxy purple to match the lights of your lion!”

Shiro went slightly cross-eyed as Pidge shoved the last box she’d mentioned right in front of his nose.

“I vote purple!” Hunk called from the other room. Shiro ran his fingers through the back of his hair.

“What about just going back to bla—”

“ _NO_ ,” Pidge and Allura said simultaneously.

“Erm, what we mean is, only if you’re really unhappy with it,” Allura amended, patting his arm. Shiro took in their eager smiles, eyeing the boxes with a sigh.

“Alright,” he said, putting on a brave face. After all, it was just hair. “Anyone else want to cast a vote?” he called out.

“For what?” Keith asked, rounding the corner into the room. Shiro felt his lips rise automatically into a warm smile as he came into view. Keith sent a soft look back at him, eyebrow rising as he noticed Allura and Pidge’s aprons.

“We’re giving Shiro a new ‘do,” Pidge explained, holding up the dye. Keith snorted.

“Oh, this’ll be good,” he said, grabbing a seat. Shiro tossed Keith a look and the box of red dye.

“What do you think, should we match?” he teased. Pidge snorted. Keith looked back at him, confused.

“You want me to dye my hair red, too?” he asked.

“No, silly,” Pidge said exasperatedly. “If Shiro chose that one he’d have _red_ hair with _black_ armor. You have _black_ hair with _red_ armor. You’d be like a matching set.”

“Oh.” Keith blushed.

“Isn’t that kind of the _opposite_ of matching?” Lance asked, trailing into the room with Hunk as Hunk handed out milkshakes. “The way I see it, the only thing Shiro would _actually_ be matching is _my_ lion if he goes red,” he said, hooking an arm around Shiro’s neck and pointing his thumb dramatically at himself. Shiro chuckled.

“Fair point,” he smiled, leaning his head back into Lance’s stomach to look up at him upside down. Lance cleared his throat, tripping over his feet slightly as he unhooked his arm to accept Hunk’s milkshake.

“I prefer the navy, myself,” Allura said. “But I think Pidge’s choice of purple would be a bit more fun, and would be wonderfully in line with your Black Paladin color scheme.”

“ _Do it for the aesthetic_ ,” Hunk stage whispered through cupped hands.

“Coran?” Shiro called out. “You want to weigh in on this?”

“My only recommendation,” Coran yelled back, “is to make sure you don’t use _any_ dyes made from corumplet flowers. Twelve-spotted leaves, let it be, as Pop-pop Wimbleton used to say. They make for gorgeous color while it lasts, but only until all your hair falls right out!”

Shiro’s eyes widened in panic.

“Ah, not to worry!” Allura waved her hands placatingly. “I checked before we bought them, no corumplets here, promise!”

“Eh, I’m sure Shiro could rock a bald look,” Hunk said, slurping his milkshake. Shiro threaded his fingers into his hair protectively.

“Pidge!” he whined.

“Don’t be such a baby, Shiro, these dyes are _fine_ ,” Pidge reassured. “Now put your hand down,” she ordered, shoving a poncho with the hood cut off over his head as a makeshift smock.

Shiro sent Keith a pleading look, but he just smirked back. Shiro sighed.

“Fine, purple it is then, I guess,” he said nervously.

“ _Yes!”_ Pidge and Hunk fist-bumped.

 

 

Shiro found himself nearly dozing off, enjoying the head massage as Pidge and Allura rinsed away the dye. He was already thinking that it’d be worth doing this again for the massage alone. Maybe back on earth he’d find a way to fit a spa day somewhere in their crazy schedule.

“Nearly done,” Allura said. “We’re just waiting until the water starts running clear.”

“Jeeze, I really hope the owner of this place doesn’t mind a little redecorating,” Lance said, “because that sink might be permanently purple, now.” Shiro snorted.

“Alright, no peeking!” Pidge said, covering Shiro’s eyes as Allura coaxed him to sit up and turn around. “Allura’s going to dry your hair first, _then_ you can open your eyes. Okay?”

“Got it,” Shiro said, yawning. The warm air of the hair dryer was not helping with the dozing off issue.

“Aw man, Shiro! It looks so awesome,” Hunk said enthusiastically as Allura turned the hair dryer off.

“Are you ready?” Allura asked excitedly.

“Yes, enough with the suspense already,” Shiro laughed.

“Tada!” Pidge and Allura sang together, framing his face with jazz hands as Shiro opened his eyes.

The front by his bangs was almost lilac, the color deepening into a darker purple towards the back. Pidge was right, he kind of did match the lights of the Black Lion now.

“Huh,” Shiro smiled, turning his head this way and that as he examined his reflection. “You know, I wasn’t sure about the idea, but it actually looks really cool. Nice job you two,” he said, ruffling Pidge’s hair.

“You guys done yet?” Keith called as he walked back into the room, hands shoved in his pockets. Shiro met Keith’s eye in the mirror as Keith came up behind him.

“Well? What do you think?” Shiro asked shyly with a tiny smile, ruffling his newly dyed locks. Keith pursed his lips as though biting back a laugh, then reached up to run his own fingers through it. Something swooped in Shiro’s stomach.

“Actually, I think it suits you,” Keith said with an amused smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alas, friends, I tried but I couldn't quite finish the M&M chapter quickly enough. So, I decided to switch the order of my chapters just a smidge. Hope you enjoyed this in the meantime!
> 
> I can't believe s7 has officially dropped! As I said, I was hoping to have all 20 of these chapters done before s7 aired. Unfortunately though, only 11 are completely finished (the ones posted plus chap 9-11, 17 & 20). So new plan: Post chapters 7-11 sometime between 8/12 - 8/18, then get the rest up within the next 2 weeks. Hope you stay tuned & that we're all still alive after what s7 threw at us!


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